IT WAS a carnival atmosphere at the G.C. Foster College auditorium yesterday when Clarendon's Denbigh High School covered themselves in glory by taking the double in schoolgirl netball.
Denbigh won both finals of the ISSA All-Island competition when they easily dispatched Corporate Area teams Holy Childhood and Dunoon Technical to crown themselves Queens of netball.
In the Junior final, Denbigh who were beaten last year by Wolmer's, went one place better when they turned back Holy Childhood 21-13 for their first line on the title.
Denbigh were out very fast and raced to a 3-0 lead as goal shooter Tamika Smith was bang on target. However, the remainder of the half was competitive as first-time finalists Holy Childhood settled down with centre Jhennell Williams playing well to set up goal attack Chickey Rose and goal shooter Donette Falcon with good passes. At halftime, Denbigh led by one point, 9-8.
In the second half, the Clarendon team who the previous week had defeated a strong Edwin Allen team in the Rural Junior final, came into their own. Playing a better brand of netball, they outjumped their opponents with tiny goal attack Shellena Williams in tremendous form as they raced to a convincing win.
With the junior team setting the pace and their large throng of supporters in a frenzy, the senior team, facing former many-time champions Dunoon Technical, came out blazing. Showing good poise and confidence, goal shooter Jillian Johnson on target as in the first four minutes she put her team in a 4-0 lead.
Following their good start, the Denbigh team became over confident and let their opponents back in the game as the Corporate Area champions drew level at 4-4 through goals from goal shooter Sophia Grant. However, the rural champions regained their composure and took control to lead 19-11 at the break.
Coach C. Lloyd Walker seemed to have given his team an inspired talk as they came out determined as reduced the lead to four points inside five minutes as Denbigh led 19-15. However, the agility of the Denbigh team, led by wing attack Kedisha Smith, centre Symone Reid and accurate goal shooter Johnson and goal attack Shauna Jones, put the game out of Dunoon's reach as they pulled away for a comfortable 33-26 victory.
